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How badly am I screwed?

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color_zone

New Member
Have been doing diagnostics for some print issues on my JV3-160. Went to do a data swap this AM. Totally spaced out and forgot the #1 thing you probably should never forget to do: power down first. I pull my K and M ribbons and the first one I plug in I get sparks. Crap. That's a heck of a way to remember what you forgot to do. So at this point I know I need a new ribbon (and I'm praying I don't need a new print head). I stop what I'm doing and power down, then go ahead and complete the swap with the power off. I get everything hooked back up and go to power on, and nothing. The machine is completely dead. The green light comes on behind the power switch, but the machine itself doesn't come to life and the screen doesn't come on. Is it really possible that the spark in the print head would have shorted out the whole machine?

So, while I'm waiting for a call back from my tech, can someone outline just how bad this could end up being? (And yeah, I already know I messed up big time by forgetting to power down and I'm already beating myself up for that.)
 
allamericantrade

allamericantrade

New Member
Not knowing the machine but having a general knowledge of electronics, I would say you have a fighting chance and it's not going to be too bad due to the fact the machine was still on after the spark. Unplug it for like 20 Minutes and retry. let the capacitors have a chance to discharge. because it was still on after the spark I'd doubt it be the surge but anything is possible.
 
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color_zone

New Member
Okay, I've stopped hyperventilating for the moment. I pulled the ribbons at the print heads and it fired back up, so I know the main board is safe. About to try pinpointing the ribbons, but so far things are promising.

Thanks for the responses.
 
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color_zone

New Member
UPDATE: from maybe this isn't so bad to yeah, this is much worse

After some playing around and back-and-forth with my tech on the phone, we targeted the slider board as the likely culprit, so I have a new slider board and ribbon cables coming tomorrow. In the meantime, the pumps can't cycle because the heads aren't functional. My tech suggested filling the capping station with cleaning solution so that the heads can soak, but as it turns out I apparently have a bad pump too, because the solution won't sit in the capping station. It just drains out. How in the world am I going to keep the machine from freezing up with ink in the heads/lines/whatever, if I'm not going to have the parts until tomorrow?
 
sfr table hockey

sfr table hockey

New Member
I don't have a Mimaki but my old roland sits for a week and as long as I flush the drain lines before use, it tends to be ok.

The reason your caps are not holding the ink is due to the pump and where the rollers happen to be sitting. Some time they will stop when they are pinching the drain line and then no air leek and other times it may be just after compressing the drain line.

Drain lines tend to be the main reason for a pump issue and when you think about it, if there is a dried up blob of ink stuck un them the pump won't be able to create a draw and thus your heads can't recharge. Clear the drain lines before you use it next time and you should be fine.

Or what he just said...
 
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dmcprint

New Member
The Mimaki JV3 doesn't have fuses like a Roland printer. If something blows, it's gonna take the whole board. The slider board is a good call. It's the cheapest board to start replacing and most likely caught the electricity before it went to the main board. New print head cables are a must for this fix. As far as the print head... you may need to replace that as well if a new slider doesn't do the trick.

It's the hardest lesson to learn, but one that you'll never forget.
 
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color_zone

New Member
+1 for the clamp idea. I checked with our service manager and he had a box of these. No shop should be without 'em. They work great for clamping the lines and I'm hopeful that I can stumble through this until I get my parts in.

PS: All of y'all rock. Thanks so much for the help!
 

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color_zone

New Member
jhilldesigns said:
makes a nice roach clip too, i heard
Click to expand...

If you're not careful you run the risk of pinching the end too tight, though.

... Or so I've been told.

Anyway, got the slider board and other assorted parts in this morning, swapped everything out, and my machine fired right up. At the moment it's running like a champ. I was afraid of potential head issues, especially since it had to sit overnight soaking in cleaning solution without the pumps running, but the test pattern was clean and the swatch test I ran was golden.

Now that this is cleared up, I can get on about the business of replacing the chip reader.
 
signage

signage

New Member
color_zone said:
If you're not careful you run the risk of pinching the end too tight, though.

... Or so I've been told.

Anyway, got the slider board and other assorted parts in this morning, swapped everything out, and my machine fired right up. At the moment it's running like a champ. I was afraid of potential head issues, especially since it had to sit overnight soaking in cleaning solution without the pumps running, but the test pattern was clean and the swatch test I ran was golden.

Now that this is cleared up, I can get on about the business of replacing the chip reader.
Click to expand...

:thumb:
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
not powering up was more likely the ribbons being installed bottom to top/top to bottom. seen it happen. slider boards are rarely replaced. just fixed for $200 by guys like macmedia. you can get a diagnosis for $40! i sent mine off once and got the "it's fine" result. it's so nice to have honest businesses out there.
 
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